Green papaya & courgette fettuccine with thread noodles & cashews

We can learn from everyone’s diet, even if it is not one we would want to follow on a permanent basis. Using raw vegetables to make ‘fettuccine’ is a trick from the raw food/paleo songbook, a carb-free diet.

For this you will need either a julienne peeler or a machine called a ‘spiraliser’. Raw-food-arians love their spiraliser machines! With these, all kinds of vegetables can be turned into noodle-thin strands that you can eat instead of pasta. Like the Chinese, I like to incorporate different textures into my food.

Ingredients

Quantity

Ingredient

120g

thread noodles

2

courgettes, julienned

1

green papaya, peeled, deseeded and julienned

handful

cashew nuts, lightly toasted

1

red chilli, very finely chopped

1

garlic clove, very finely chopped

4 cm piece

ginger, peeled and very finely chopped

1 tablespoon

palm sugar

1 tablespoon

soy sauce

1

lime, juiced

3 tablespoons

groundnut oil

mint and coriander leaves

sea salt

Method

Soak the thread noodles in hot, salted water for 15 minutes, then drain well.

Mix the courgette, papaya, noodles and cashews together. Make the dressing by pounding together, with a pestle and mortar or in a blender, the chilli, garlic, ginger, sugar and soy sauce. Add the lime juice and oil and stir into the courgette, papaya and noodles. Garnish with mint and coriander leaves and serve.